Breaking into the live-service multiplayer market is incredibly challenging, especially when trying to attract players away from longstanding genre leaders. One recent notable exception was Marvel Rivals, NetEase’s breakout hit. With a stellar roster and striking animation, it drew heavily from Overwatch’s mechanics and initially impressed many gamers.
Yet, a look at Marvel Rivals’ player count on Steam reveals a striking decline. In under a year, the game has lost 85% of its players, dropping from a peak of 644,000 concurrent users in January 2025 to just 98,000 as of this week.
While 98,000 concurrent players is still a respectable figure by industry standards, the worrying factor is the downward trend, which shows no signs of stabilizing. Such a rapid player loss raises serious doubts about Marvel Rivals’ prospects as a sustainable, long-term success—especially considering the high production costs and the relentless pace of monthly character releases.
In contrast, successful games in this genre usually experience growth over time or at least maintain their player base before any decline occurs. Take Apex Legends, for example, which grew from 117,000 players in November 2020 to a peak of 624,000 in February 2023. If Marvel Rivals had followed a similar trajectory after its launch, its player count ten months in would be near 330,000—not dwindling to 99,000 as it did.
Critics often dismiss Steam charts as unreliable indicators of a game’s health. While charts are less informative for single-player experiences, they serve as a useful gauge for ongoing live-service games aiming to build or maintain their communities. An 85% drop in under a year cannot be spun positively in this context.
The big question is what changes, if any, could reverse Rivals’ decline. The pace of content development might be working against it—monthly character additions can introduce balance issues, making it harder for players to stay engaged. Alternatively, players who initially migrated from other shooter titles may simply be returning to those proven favorites. The live multiplayer market is notoriously unforgiving; while Rivals’ initial success was surprising, maintaining momentum is an entirely different challenge.
It may be too soon to sound an alarm, but the steep drop in player retention is a stark signal. It will be interesting to see how NetEase responds to this critical juncture and what strategies they deploy to stabilize or revive Marvel Rivals.
